NASCAR commissioner Steve Phelps resigns after inflammatory texts revealed in trial - NBC Sports
Commissioner Steve Phelps on Tuesday announced his resignation after more than 20 years with NASCAR.
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Nick Zaccardi,
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Ejiofor has 18, St. John’s defeats Butler 84-70
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NASCAR commissioner Steve Phelps resigns after inflammatory texts revealed in trial
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Associated Press,
By
Associated Press
Published January 6, 2026 10:35 AM
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Most emotional moments of 2025 NASCAR season
December 16, 2025 10:00 AM
Remember the times that drivers wore their hearts on their sleeves during the 2025 NASCAR season.
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — NASCAR Commissioner Steve Phelps on Tuesday announced his resignation after more than 20 years with the top racing series in the United States and a nasty federal trial in which inflammatory texts he sent during contentious revenue-sharing negotiations were revealed.
Phelps will leave the company at the end of the month, ahead of the start of the season. He was named NASCAR’s first commissioner last season after a courting process for the same role by the PGA golf tour. The opportunity with the PGA was revealed during December testimony of the antitrust trial brought by two race teams against NASCAR.
But the top executive at NASCAR was deeply bruised during the trial — and the discovery process leading into it — when communications he exchanged with top leadership was exposed. In one exchange, Phelps called Hall of Fame team owner Richard Childress “a stupid redneck” who “needs to be taken out back and flogged.”
That led Bass Pro Shops founder Johnny Morris, an ardent supporter of both NASCAR and Richard Childress Racing, to write a letter demanding Phelps’ removal as commissioner.
NASCAR settled the lawsuit with 23XI Racing, owned by Michael Jordan and Denny Hamlin, and Front Row Motorsports, owned by Bob Jenkins, the day after Morris’ letter.
Rating: 5